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What is the farm safety code of practice - online risk assessment tool?

This is an electronic version of the Risk Assessment document for the Farm Safety Code of Practice, i.e. the Code of Practice for Preventing Injury and ill Health in Agriculture. It allows you to fill in and save the risk assessment electronically. It will store your risk assessment which you can look at and update at any time by logging onto www.farmsafely.com

If you have to log out before you complete the risk assessment document your work will be saved and it will bring you back to the same stage when you log back in. When complete and you set out what you need to take action on you can print out your farm safety action plan.

This electronic risk Assessment Tool will not be used by the Authority to plan inspections.

Why should I use the online risk assessment tool?

It is a legal requirement to have a safety statement which includes a risk assessment on your farm. If you have 3 or less people working on your farm you can use the Farm Safety Code of Practice to comply with your legal requirement. This electronic means of completing your risk assessment has several advantages;

You can find your Code of Practice Risk Assessment easily when you need it

It maintains a record of when you did your risk assessments

You can plan and print out your safety action list

You will get e-mails reminding you of actions you need to take and when you need to do your annual risk assessment review

How do I start assessing my farm?

The Farm risk assessment contains an Introduction, Nine sections and an Action list. Each section contains some information about hazards and risks on the farm, statistics on farming accidents so you can understand the importance of the practical things you can do to make your farm safer. You should start by reading the information presented at the start of each section before attempting the risk assessment.

Following consideration of this information you will find a risk assessment in the form of a list of questions on that hazard on your farm and some initial safety controls you should put in place. Consider each control and see if it is applicable to the hazard. Finally, you should add any additional controls that you see as appropriate on your farm. If you are in doubt about how to use the risk assessment click on (introduction) beside the Previous button.

How do I know where I am in the risk assessment?

Between the "previous" and "next" buttons there are a number of red boxes, one for each risk assessment section. The one being worked on will be larger than the rest while you are working on it within the document. The boxes change colour as you complete each section. Red means incomplete, Green means complete and Blue means the section does not apply on your farm.

Can I use browser favourites?

What if a whole section does not apply on my farm?

You can mark a section as N/A by clicking the add hazard button (e.g. "Add Vehicle").

In the form/box click the "SECTION DOES NOT APPLY" button. The text "THIS SECTION DOES NOT APPLY ON MY FARM" will appear on the risk assessment and the section button at the bottom of the screen will change to blue.

To make this section apply again, open the hazards form/box and enter the name of a new hazard and click save.

How do I add another vehicle or machine?

If you need to assess another hazard on your farm go to the section where this hazard is examined and click the "Add vehicle" button. The same applies for machines, equipment, livestock, farm areas and activities. Each section has a similar button that will allow you to assess hazards on your farm. Once you have entered the name of the new hazard, click the save button

Why can I only see the first few letters in my vehicle on the risk assessment sheet?

Only the first 10 characters of hazard names are shown on screen, however when you print the complete document the full names are used. It is advisable to use something short at the start of the name which you can use to identify the hazard, such as the license plate number or model.

What if my assessment is going off screen?

Do I have to add my own controls?

Although the list of controls presented is extensive it is not exhaustive. It would be impractical to list every possible control that farmers may have on their farms. However, most farms will do (or have done) things to ensure that their farm is safe. Two or three additional controls per section is likely to be all that is needed to conclude the list. That said, some farmers will have no additional controls for some sections. The important thing is to consider the controls you need for the kinds of hazards you identify. You should add any hazards and controls that are appropriate to your farm.

How do I change my registration details?

How do I delete a hazard from a section?

To delete a hazard just remove its name from the hazard list. Open the risk assessment in the section, click the add hazard button (e.g. Add Vehicle). Select the text for the hazard you want removed and delete it. Click the save button.